Estancia, New Mexico
Estancia, New Mexico recognized the incomplete memory, born in a cradle of promises and then somehow ground to an unsettling halt on the outskirts of town. Like a pitcher of cream, hopes for a journey back to something consequential had to be set aside. Whatever...
Victor, Idaho
Victor, Idaho liked it better back when the messages weren’t so messy, years ago when folks weren’t so riled up. A few people in town had the feeling they were being pitted against one another by concealed forces. Maybe it was the $124 million oil and gas companies...
Barstow, California
Barstow, California was still stuck in ragtag denials that had crippled it for more than a century. “No, you’re mistaken,” said the thief draped in silk. “This is not blind optimism. It’s not baseless. It’s fueled by muses and measurements, scientists and a thirst...
Eunice, New Mexico
Eunice, New Mexico danced across the slick backside of a late afternoon rainbow. Caroline told them, “There’s been progress. The cost of solar and wind power is going down. In a lot of places solar is now cheaper than coal or hydro. “But carbon dioxide and...
Malaga, New Mexico
Malaga, New Mexico settled in for another late summer storm. Caroline unexpectedly found herself jolted back into her struggles to cut through the fog layered between good and evil. She saw her struggle as mankind’s constant, the underpinning of all civilizations. But...
Ganado, Arizona
Ganado, Arizona knew all too well the dangers of a gracious man more earnest than diabolical. Nick remained quiet. The softness in his voice belied an intensity which eluded the four women. He struck them as modest, and at first, when he seemed to withdraw from their...
Maple Falls, Washington
Maple Falls, Washington recalled gauzy days when big tubes in stately radios were aglow. “It’s up to us,” said Caroline. “We can’t expect the BLM or the Department of the Interior or anyone else in Washington to stop this. Too much money’s at stake. “The history of...
Ocotillo Wells, California
Ocotillo Wells, California melted in the spackled rain. The late summer storm was unexpected and lashed the desert town with unusual fury. The five oilmen whose shots missed the par three green stayed behind at the compound in Mexico. Later that morning, they were...
Ramona, California
Ramona, California unloaded the last of the boxcars that came down from Reno. Hardened men soaked down all the wooden crates with 100VLL aviation fuel. The bonfire would begin at dusk. The wind swirled up only when a ball was placed on a tee. Otherwise it was dead...
San Felipe, California
San Felipe, California slept in until the parade of saxophone ghosts grew impossible to ignore. After a breakfast of tetelas, huevos rancheros and chilaquiles, the six oilmen were driven to a nearby golf course. Their clubs were put on carts and the oilmen gathered on...
Jamul, California
Jamul, California knew the risks and how best to deflect them. All it took was concentration and immediate action, the kind seagulls show when they spot unguarded food on a beach towel. Each of six oilmen was escorted to a well-appointed casita. In each, a numbered...
Potrero, California
Potrero, California never quite managed to turn its back on Mexico despite a century of temptations, both illicit and sublime. The border was just a few miles south of town. The rest of America, which Potrero clung to with the desperation of a delusional day trader,...
The Otay Mesa
The Otay Mesa was the last the six oilmen saw of the United States. The navy-blue van pulled into a low-slung warehouse. The oilmen were ushered downstairs and instructed to walk through a tunnel. The fluorescent tubes flickered in a maniacal rhythm. The whir of the...
Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City, California glanced up at the purple face of the San Jacinto Mountains and liked what it saw. The six oilmen looked hopefully out the windows of the navy-blue van but noticed nothing either promising or recognizable. They could tell they were heading...
Borrego Springs, California
Borrego Springs, California sashayed into the home stretch of marinating a fifty-pound batch of al pastor. When the dark navy-blue van passed the road into their resort, one of the oilmen told the driver he had missed the turn. The driver said nothing. The six oilmen...
Dulzura, California
Dulzura, California sang along with Sam Cooke as if the angels had never left town. Two men in dark suits emerged from the navy-blue van. They approached the six golfers and invited them to get in for a ride back to the resort. The golfers were happy to be on their...
White River City, Colorado
White River City, Colorado listened with the attentiveness of a demure piano tuner. “It’s ridiculous,” said Caroline. “Fine, I suppose, if you want to draw attention to a cause and stir up a bunch of ill will. But these people with Just Stop Oil who protest by taking...
Ocotillo, California
Ocotillo, California roasted beneath a harsh white sky striped with terror. A hundred miles to the west, where ocean breezes pressed up against the slopes of the coastal range, it was cooler. After the five men on the patio overlooking the eighteenth green finished...
